LESSON 1
Rizal’s Novels
NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO
Noli Me Tangere
 Latin for "touch me not," an allusion to the Gospel of
St. John where Jesus says to Mary Magdelene: "Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father."
 Inspiration from John 20:13-17 of the Bible, the
technical name of a particularly painful type of cancer
(back in his time, it was unknown what the modern
name of said disease was).
 To probe all the cancers of Filipino society that
everyone else felt too painful to touch.
 An 1887 novel by José Rizal during the colonization
of the Philippines by Spain to describe perceived
inequities of the Spanish Catholic friars and the
ruling government.
 Originally written in Spanish, the book is more
commonly published and read in the Philippines in
either Tagalog or English. Early English translations of
the novel used titles like An Eagle Flight (1900) and
The Social Cancer (1912)
 A name used by local Filipinos for cancer of the
eyelids; that as an ophthalmologist himself Rizal was
influenced by this fact is suggested in the novel's
dedication, "To My fatherland".
Jose Rizal - Filipino nationalist and medical doctor,
conceived the idea of writing a novel that would expose the ills
of Philippine society after reading Harriet Beecher Stowe's
Uncle Tom's Cabin
History of Publication
January 2, 1884
 In a reunion of Filipinos at the house of his friend
Pedro A. Paterno in Madrid, Rizal proposed the
writing of a novel about the Philippines written by a
group of Filipinos.
 Approved by the Filipinos present at the time, among
whom were Pedro, Maximino Viola and Antonio
Paterno, Graciano López Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre,
Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente and Valentin
Ventura.
February 1887
 Rizal finished the novel. At first, according to one
of Rizal's biographers, Rizal feared the novel might
not be printed, and that it would remain unread. He
was struggling with financial constraints at the time
and thought it would be hard to pursue printing the
novel.
Maximo Viola - Rizal`s financial aid came. This helped him
print the book at Berliner Buchdruckerei-Aktiengesellschaft
in Berlin. Rizal was initially hesitant, but Viola insisted and
ended up lending Rizal ₱300 for 2,000 copies. The printing was
finished earlier than the estimated five months. Viola arrived in
1886 & 1887
Berlin in December 1886, and by March 21, 1887, Rizal had
sent a copy of the novel to his friend, Blumentritt.
The book was banned by Spanish authorities in the
Philippines, although copies were smuggled into the country.
1889
The first Philippine edition (and the second published
edition) was finally printed in Manila by Chofre y Compania
in
Escolta.
Infuence of Nationalism
Rizal depicted nationality by emphasizing the:
 positive qualities of Filipinos
 the devotion of a Filipina and her influence on a man's life
 the deep sense of gratitude
 the solid common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish
regime
 creating a unified Filipino national identity and
consciousness, as many natives previously identified with
their respective regions.
It lampooned, caricatured and exposed various elements in
colonial society.
Two characters in particular have become classics in
Filipino culture:
1. María Clara - who has become a personification of
the ideal Filipino woman, loving and unwavering in
her loyalty to her spouse;
2. Dámaso - a priest father who reflects the covert
fathering of illegitimate children by members of the
Spanish clergy
1956
Congress passed Republic Act 1425, more popularly known
as the Rizal Law, which requires all levels in Philippine schools
to teach the novel as part of their curriculum.
LESSON 2
Major Characters
Crisóstomo Ibarra
 Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, commonly
referred to in the novel as Ibarra or Crisostomo, is
the novel's protagonist.
 The mestizo (mixed-race) son of Filipino
businessman Don Rafael Ibarra, he studied in
Europe for seven years.
 María Clara's fiancé
María Clara
 María Clara de los Santos, commonly referred to
as María Clara, is Ibarra's fiancée and the most
beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San
Diego.
 She was raised by Kapitán Tiago de los Santos, and
his cousin, Isabel.
 Illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso, the former
curate of the town, and Doña Pía Alba, Kapitán
Tiago's wife, who had died giving birth to María
Clara.
 At the novel's end, a heartbroken yet resolved
María Clara entered the Beaterio de Santa
Clara (a nunnery) after learning the truth of her
parentage and mistakenly believing that her lover,
Crisóstomo, had been killed. In the epilogue, Rizal
stated that it is unknown whether María Clara is
still living within the walls of the convent or is
already dead.
 A character of Leonor Rivera who was Rizal’s
longtime love interest
Kapitán Tiago
 Don Santiago de los Santos, known by his
nickname Tiago and political title Kapitán Tiago, is
said to be the richest man in the region of Binondo
and possessed real properties in Pampanga and
Laguna de Baý.
 He is also said to be a good Catholic, a friend of the
Spanish government and thus was considered a
Spaniard by the colonial elite.
 Kapitán Tiago never attended school, so he became
the domestic helper of a Dominican friar who
gave him an informal education.
 He later married Pía Alba from Santa Cruz.
Padre Dámaso
 Dámaso Verdolagas, better known as Padre
Dámaso, is a Franciscan friar and the former
parish curate of San Diego.
 He is notorious for speaking with harsh words,
highhandedness, and his cruelty during his
ministry in the town.
 An enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Don Rafael
Ibarra
 Dámaso is revealed to be María Clara's biological
father.
 Later, he and María Clara had bitter arguments on
whether she would marry Alfonso Linares de
Espadaña (which he preferred) or enter the
nunnery (her desperate alternative).
 At the end of the novel, he is again reassigned to a
distant town and later found dead in his bed.
Elías
 Elías is Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally.
 Elías made his first appearance as a pilot during a
picnic of Ibarra and María Clara and her friends.
 The 50th chapter of the novel explores the past of Elías
and history of his family.
About sixty years before the events of Noli Me Tángere,
Ingkong — Elías's grandfather Ingkong in his youth worked
as a bookkeeper in a Manila office.
One night the office burned down, and Don Pedro
Eibarramendia, the Spaniard owner, accused him of arson.
Ingkong was prosecuted and upon release was shunned by the
community as a dangerous lawbreaker. His wife Impong turned
to prostitution to support themselves but eventually they were
driven into the hinterlands. There Impong bore her first son,
Balat.
Driven to depression, Ingkong hangs himself deep in the
forest. Impong was sickly for lack of nourishment in the forest
and was not strong enough to cut down his corpse and bury him,
and Balat was then still very young. The stench led to their
discovery, and Impong was accused of killing her husband. She
and her son fled to another province where she bore another
son. Balat grew up to be a bandit.
They have an affair and the lady got pregnant. But before
they could marry, his records were dug up. Then the father, who
disapproved of him from the start, had him imprisoned. The
lady gave birth to Elías and his twin sister but died while the
two were still children. Nonetheless, the twins were well cared
for, with Elías even going to Ateneo and his sister going to La
Concordia, but as they wanted to become farmers they
eventually returned to Tayabas.
He and his sister grew up not knowing about their father,
being told that their father had long died. Elías grew up to be a
young abusive brat who took particular joy in berating an
elderly servant who, nevertheless, always submitted to his
whims. His sister was more refined and eventually was
betrothed to a fine young man. But before they could marry,
Elías ran afoul with a distant relative. The relative struck back
by telling him about his true parentage. The verbal scuffle
mounted to the point where records were dug up, and Elías and
his sister, as well as a good part of town, learned the truth. The
elderly servant who Elías frequently abused was their father
The scandal caused the engagement of Elías' sister to break
off. Depressed, the girl disappeared one day and was eventually
found dead along the shore of the lake. Elías himself lost face
before his relatives and became a wanderer from province to
province. Like his uncle Balat he became a fugitive and his
legend grew, but by degrees he became the gentler, more
reserved, and more noble character first introduced in the
novel.
Pilósopong Tasyo
 Filósofo Tasio (Tagalog: Pilósopong Tasyo) was
enrolled in a philosophy course and was a talented
student, but his mother was a rich but superstitious
matron.
 Since he was in love, he left college and married.
Tasyo lost his wife and mother within a year.
Seeking consolation and in order to free himself
from the cockpit and the dangers of idleness, he
took up his studies once more. But he became so
addicted to his studies and the purchase of books
that he entirely neglected his fortune and gradually
ruined himself.
 Persons of culture called him Don Anastacio, or
Pilósopong Tasyo, while the great crowd of the
ignorant knew him as Tasio el Loco on account
of his peculiar ideas and his eccentric manner of
dealing with others.
 Seeking for reforms from the government, he
expresses his ideals in paper written in a
cryptographic alphabet similar from hieroglyphs
and Coptic figures hoping "that the future
generations may be able to decipher it.”
Doña Victorina
 Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña,
commonly known as Doña Victorina, is an
ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as a
Spaniard and mimics Spanish ladies by putting
on heavy make-up.
 Married Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, an official
of the customs bureau ten years her junior.
However, their marriage is childless.
 Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña,
with double de to emphasize her marriage surname.
She seems to feel that this awkward titling makes
her more "sophisticated".
Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio
 Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio represent a
Filipino family persecuted by the
Spanish authorities:
Narcisa, or Sisa
 The deranged mother of Basilio and
Crispín.
  Beautiful and young, although she loves
her children very much, she cannot protect
them from the beatings of her husband,
Pedro.

Crispín
 Sisa's seven-year-old son.
 An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing
money from the church.
 After failing to force Crispín to return the money he
allegedly stole, Father Salví and the head
sacristan killed him. It is not directly stated that he
was killed, but a dream of Basilio's suggests that
Crispín died during his encounter with Padre Salví
and his minion.

Basilio
 Sisa's 10-year-old son.
 An acolyte tasked to ring the church's bells for the
Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger
brother and the descent of his mother into insanity.
 later played a major role in El Filibusterismo.
Due to their tragic but endearing story, these characters are
often parodied in modern Filipino popular culture.

Salomé
 Elías' sweetheart
 She lived in a little house by the lake, and though
Elías would like to marry her, he tells her that it
would do her or their children no good to be related
to a fugitive like himself.